Marketing & Sales

Once upon a time, QVC—and other television-shopping networks—catered, seemingly, to the couch potatoes of America. Its broadcasts extolled the benefits of food choppers, cubic zirconia jewelry and the like, employing a talk-show format to entice viewers to dial in to join the conversation—and to make a purchase.

Recently, the owner of a New York hotel decided to fine wedding couples $500 of their deposit funds for each negative review posted online by any of their guests. The policy produced a firestorm of complaints and nearly 700 reviews eviscerating the hotel. The bad press only spread from there.

St. Louis and Detroit long have had a lot in common as perpetually downtrodden buckles on the Rust Belt, capitals of traditional industries (autos and food processing), and strong outposts of provincial Midwestern thinking and capabilities. Now they share something else: abandonment by their most beloved corporate citizens.

CEOs are not only responsible for guiding their organization in planning for the future, but also in anticipating it. I spend a great deal of my time helping business leaders to see the future in the larger market context beyond just their own industry. Here’s what I believe the next five years will look like in the world of selling.

What do you do when sales are flat, new product lines from competitors have nibbled away at revenues, and your very brand name has become a price-tag punch line (“Whole Foods? No, Whole Paycheck,” quipped Stuart Elliott in The New York Times)?

B2B companies have typically operated in relationship-based models with customers offline. However, more are moving toward offering online purchasing. To build a solid presence in this new environment, B2B companies can learn a great deal from their B2C counterparts.

It’s no secret that the growing Hispanic population in the United States is having a huge impact on this country. Tomorrow’s markets will present CPG companies with exciting new challenges in addressing the new American consumer. CEOs of consumer products companies should be ready.

When CEOs look to the VP of sales for a report on the latest results, volume and growth are the usual metrics discussed. But these two points don’t necessarily link sales with strategy. That requires better metrics, for a variety of reasons.